Realistic Productivity Tips for Small Businesses

Everyone wants to know how to get more done every day, but not everyone manages to accomplish this lofty goal. Being productive looks different to everyone, but you can't go after goals effectively without knowing what your goals consist of. Growing a small business can be tricky at first, but creating processes that work for you is a great first step. Here are some realistic productivity tips for small businesses to help you on your journey.

Dress for Success

It's no secret that dressing well can trick your brain. When you dress professionally, you feel like a professional, even if no one else sees it yet. Find comfortable, industry-appropriate clothes that suit your style to create a great first impression. Plus, getting dressed for the day, even if you don't technically need to, helps signal to your brain that it's time to get to work. If you don't know where to start, look up business trends to get some inspiration flowing. You can also update your merch or your company uniform to be more comfortable and enjoyable to wear.

Streamline Everything

With the variety of technology available, there's no excuse for even small businesses who refuse to streamline their processes. With the right software, you can organize your tasks, goals, important data, and more. You can set reminders, host meetings, video call clients, and communicate with customers. You can automate orders with your suppliers, emails to your list, and posts on social media. No matter what your needs are, there's a program out there that can save you time, effort, and money.

Know Your Priorities

In order to feel like you're making progress, list your priorities as early as you can, and update often. It's easy to get caught up in all the little tasks that draw your attention, but don't let yourself get distracted. Otherwise, you'll go an entire day, or even weeks, feeling like you haven't made progress on your goals. When you're outlining your activities for the coming days and weeks, organize them all by priority, and set deadlines for each of them. This way, you can track active progress and guide your attention only where it's needed.

Learn How to Break Down Problems and Goals

Roadblocks happen. It's natural, it's expected, and you should accept that they're part of the process. What you do about them is what matters. This is why you need a process for confronting a problem, looking at it objectively, and breaking it down into smaller pieces to see where the holdup actually lies. This is especially important if you notice there's a task you keep avoiding. If you know why, you're one step closer to solving the problem. It might be just that you don't have an outlined process for dealing with this area yet, and that turns a roadblock into a problem you can solve. The same goes for goals. They can seem lofty and out of reach until you can break them down into smaller, manageable tasks.

Schedule Scary Hours

When those annoying or anxiety-inducing tasks start to add up, it's time to schedule a scary hour. Pick a time to combat everything you've been avoiding. Any time your brain tries to worry about one of those tasks, remind yourself that you've set aside time to deal with it, and move on. Once you get momentum going, you'll often find that those tasks aren't so bad after all.

Create Productive Environments

To get more done, create an environment that fosters your productivity. Eliminate distractions, keep goals and tasks visible, and know what you're tackling next. Set up your equipment and supplies in a way that encourages your workflow, and stay as organized as possible to keep from wasting time searching for things.

Solid productivity is the key to running a successful business, but it can feel overwhelming if you don't know what that looks like for you. By taking some time to get to know your working style and how your brain operates, you can create a system that produces greater output without wearing yourself down.